sumpter valley railway

Both adults and children in our group loved the train ride. The conductor and crew are knowledgeable and friendly, sharing the nitty-gritty (and very interesting!) details of the Sumpter Valley Railway and train.

Our photography club rented #19 for a day of photography. The train took us to good spots and the train backed up and would come forward and steam and black smoke would come out of the stack. We did this from 8:00 - 4:00. It brought us back to Sumpter for a hour and half for lunch. The volunteers that worked the train were super. We all had a wonderful day!!!♥

This was our 2nd ride on the Sumpter Valley Railway - and this was a fall foliage and train photographers ride. It's an all day affair (if you stay for the one-time night shoot it's something like 14 hours of fun.) We hit the right light and the folks running the Railway know all the best spots. We got on & off the train, they did photo-runs, had lunch, then they turned it around and ran the other direction. The weather was perfect, skys blue, clear, fall trees had their best colors on. For any Steam-engine buff or mountain scenery person it's a fantastic treat to enjoy.

Had a good time on an old Steam Locomotive, 30 min. ride on the train to Sumpter from McEwen , which is about 10 miles from Sumpter. Prices were reasonable for the round trip ride. Saw lots of wildlife on the ride.

While staying in Baker City, OR, we saw an add for this train ride at the hotel. After reading reviews we decided to try it and we had a great time. The drive out was very pretty as we followed the river through the mountains. The station was easy to find and we bought our round trip tickets there. The steam engine has been beautifully restored as well as two passenger cars and two open air cargo cars fitted with benches. We puffed along the tracks and enjoyed the scenery while staff members explained the history of the railroad and the valley. Yes, there are a miles of rock tailings from the mining operation in the valley but there are views of the water and mountains and forests as well. The train takes you six miles up the valley to the town of Sumpter where there is a mining museum featuring a floating gold dredge that you can tour to see how they mined the valley. My kids panned for hold at a demonstration booth and learned about mining from the park volunteers. On our trip to Sumpter, the train was stopped by actors pretending to be train robbers. They rode up to the train on horses and fired blanks from their pistols. The stole the strong box and ride off with the "gold". At the station, the kids were able to meet the robbers and pet the horses. Our kids thought this was a lot of fun. We had about an hour and a half to look around before taking the train back. We ate a picnic lunch when we returned and the kids played a while on the playground there. The train only runs on weekends and certain holidays. Check their website for a schedule and to find out whether robbers will be featured on that day or not. This is a fun family activity.

We saw deer, a hawk and ducks on the ride! It was a fun little ride! Don't expect much out of the depots as far as shopping and you won't be disappointed.

What wonderful comfortable easy ride either inside or in an open car or both. The scenery is of a stark mining area but with many ponds and wildlife present. The Railway staff are as informative and helpful as anyone could ask for. My wife and I enjoyed our ride and wouldn't hesitate suggesting others should do the same.

This little oil fired 2-6-2 prarie steamer is oil fired and lumbers along very sedately. The engine is lovely and the steam whistle sound is an unequalled pleasure to hear. I only rated this down because the short (6 mile?) run travels thru the wasteland created by the Sumpter Dredge...and it depressed me to see so many square miles of valley floor that has been turned upside down and destroyed. Literally all you see is endless vistas of piles of river rock....with a few hardy plants trying to take root.

We've stopped twice now. Boy is do they make this a great experience. You get to ride on a real train. If you sit in the open car, you can actually see the ashes from the wood settling around you. This isn't too far off of the Freeway (about 15-20 min). You pay for your train ride, wait for it to come, ride the train to the train station. The train get's robbed by real cowboys shooting real six shooters riding real horses, then it continues on to the train station. The train station has a restroom and a store. They let people ride the horses that the cowboys used to rob the train. You can walk across the road to the gold dredge museum and walk through the dredge. It's huge and a very fascinating piece of machinery. Then you get on the train and ride back to where you parked your car. The train ride takes about 15 minutes each way. All of the volunteers that help make this a fun experience do a great job. It was well worth the ticket fee.

We boarded the train for a roundtrip from McEwen to Sumpter, it was an awesome experience. We sat outside and they told us before we left the station that while going in to Sumpter we might want to move inside due to ashes from the woodburning engine landing on our clothes, it wasn't that bad at all, the black specs shake right off, my husband's white t-shirt stayed white LOL. There was a layover in Sumpter of about an hour and a half, go see the gold dredge, there is also 2 walking trails around it, plenty of time to walk them. All in all, we would definitely go there again, very enjoyable.

Wonderful experience, riding in a vintage train car pulled by a steam engine. The all-volunteer crew were friendly and knowledgeable, fun to watch the scenery go by, everyone on the train seemed to enjoy the trip. Plenty of time to visit the dredge in Sumpter and learn about its operation--amazed by the technology, appalled by the piles of rocks and the evidence of mining activity that looked like it happened last week when in fact it's been almost 60 years. A wonderful experience all the way around.

What could be cooler than a historic ride on a restored steam engine? Summertime in Sumpter wouldn't be the same without the sounds of the whistle blowing of the train in the distance. Riding the train is a fun experience for all ages young and old!

I am one who loves to learn about history and this is neat! The Sumpter Valley Train was used in the late 1800's to transport Lumber and eventually used for passenger and freight transporting as well. Baker City was booming because of the lumber industry. This train was what kept the city alive, unlike all the nearby ghost towns that surround. Now the original track is about 5 miles long and used mainly as passenger transportation with a steam locomotive. For one who loves history and viewing beautiful scenic views this is a fun experience. The ride is a bit long, about an hour. The last time I went, I made a days worth of education and experience out of it. I took my daughter on the ride which all children love, then we stopped by the Sumpter Gold Dredge and finished off in Baker City at the Sumpter Junction Restaurant. Which is also neat with a small locomotive circling the whole restaurant. It was a great day of learning and bonding.

was quite enjoyable until the train had to build up enough steam to get started again (which happened twice) make sure you notice all of the piles and piles of rocks from the dredge,

Although the park itself was closed, we were still able to walk around and look at the engines, read a bit of history and my girls enjoyed the mini playground near the parking area, which I thought was a great addition for families with younger kids.